I swear to you that I didn't know anything about this petition. But like you, I am staunchly behind it!!! {[]
I was looking at Mr. Deeds the other night and it just dawned on me.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
I know that Tony detests water-logged superheroes but...
David Boreanaz Up for Sub-Mariner?
Source: Horrie May 14, 2007
While this should be taken with a fair amount of salt, scooper 'Horrie' writes:
Just got home from my acting class, and a classmate tells me she just did a guest turn on TVs "Bones". Don't know that there's any truth to this or not, but she's saying that David Boreanaz from the show may be up for - or has auditioned - for the "Sub Mariner" movie...he said he had... P.S though my friend called it the "Namor" movie. I assume its the same thing we're talking about.
The Universal Pictures project will be directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), who also rewrote the script.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I know that Tony detests water-logged superheroes but...
David Boreanaz Up for Sub-Mariner?
Source: Horrie May 14, 2007
While this should be taken with a fair amount of salt, scooper 'Horrie' writes:
Just got home from my acting class, and a classmate tells me she just did a guest turn on TVs "Bones". Don't know that there's any truth to this or not, but she's saying that David Boreanaz from the show may be up for - or has auditioned - for the "Sub Mariner" movie...he said he had... P.S though my friend called it the "Namor" movie. I assume its the same thing we're talking about.
The Universal Pictures project will be directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), who also rewrote the script.
At least Namor has a bit of an attitude to him and even has some superpowers out of the water. Could be good and I think Mostow is a capable director who can deliver a good action flick. The wings on the ankles have to go though.
They really are scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with some of these characters though, especially when there are so many great heros who have been largely ignored. Why oh why isn't anyone championing a Green Lantern movie? Or a Dr. Fate film? Those two properties would make for some great entertainment I think.
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edited May 2007
Anyone planning on picking up the new Dr. Strange movie? The site is already up.
It doesn't look like he'll be in his classic outfit...again. 8-)
I swear to you that I didn't know anything about this petition. But like you, I am staunchly behind it!!! {[]
He looks perfect!!!
Finding a lookalike for The Big Red Cheese won't be easy.I'd be great if the Shazam producers will at least give Molale a screen test and not just dismiss him out of hand.Hopefully the filmmakers involved will be able to resist taking this wonderful material and turning it into a Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller movie...
And I agree with Tony--Green Lantern and Dr.Fate should be on movie screens.The technology definitely exists to present them in all their majesty.
According to today's(16/5/2007) Ain't it Cool News,Thomas Jane has quit Punisher 2.Also,Lionsgate will distribute Frank Miller's film about Will Eisner's character The Spirit.
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Guys, more Marvel vs. DC goodness. I hate to admit it but these are pretty good too. )
Incredible--just incredible! Who is that guy, and why doesn't he have a film or network TV contract? What I find so terrific about those "commercials"--besides the fact they're darn funny--is how the person(s) behind them manage to infuse inanimate toys with so much character and personality. I hope he keeps 'em coming.
I will.The Dr.Strange preview on the Invincible Iron Man DVD looks pretty intriguing.This Strange is obviously not a direct interpretation of the Lee/Ditko version, but I'm okay with that.The filmmakers are trying to update the origins of Marvel's less well-known (to the general public) characters while still remaining true to them at the same time.That can't be easy,and hopefully these characters won't be completely rewritten.Maybe Strange's more familiar sorceror wardrobe will appear in a 2nd movie.
By the way,maybe I'm alone, but I actually enjoyed most of the live-action Dr.Strange TV Movie pilot that aired so many years ago on CBS.Not all of it was kosher,and it had a limited budget(and many adjustments/revisions were apparently dictated by nervous CBS bigwigs)but the character's general spirit was retained.
And I also liked the Steven DeSousa The Spirit TV Movie pilot--this from someone who is a big Spirit fan and frankly,didn't expect much.Sam Jones(not one of my favorite actors) really resembled Denny Colt/The Spirit, and gave a surprisingly good performance.And he had a fine supporting cast--some of whom looked very much like Eisner characters.Yes,portions of it were played for laughs, but in my opinion that's also true to what Eisner did in his strip.This thing wasn't perfect,but I don't think it's the worst live-action adaptation of a comics character,either.:)
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edited May 2007
Watchmen to Set Up Shop in Vancouver
Source: Hollywood North Report May 17, 2007
Hollywood North Report has learned that Zack Snyder's (300) adaptation of Watchmen will open production offices in Vancouver in June with shooting to begin in August.
Watchmen is based on the graphic novel, written by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons. Warner Bros. will distribute the film.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited May 2007
Jane Pulls Out of The Punisher 2
Source: Ain't It Cool News May 15, 2007
Ain't It Cool News received a note from Thomas Jane which says that the actor has pulled out of Lionsgate's The Punisher 2. Here's a bit from the letter:
"What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch".
I had a sneaking suspicion that this would happen...I just did.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
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Jackson is The Octopus in Miller's Spirit
Source: The Hollywood Reporter May 18, 2007
Samuel L. Jackson is in talks to star as a mysterious supervillain in The Spirit, the graphic novel adaptation to be directed by Frank Miller for Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment.
The story centers on Denny Colt, an ambitious young cop murdered in the line of duty who under mysterious circumstances is reborn as the masked mystery man known as the Spirit.
Jackson would play the Spirit's nemesis, the Octopus, a meek lab assistant who reinvents himself as a psychotic nightmare that kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face. The Octopus' tentacles reach into every aspect of crime in fictitious Central City, a city he plans to wipe out.
Miller, one of the world's most renowned graphic artists, wrote the screenplay, which is based on the comic book series created by the late Will Eisner. The film will mark the first solo directing project for Miller, who co-helmed 2005's Sin City with Robert Rodriguez.
Batfilm's Michael Uslan is producing alongside Odd Lot's Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker.
I honestly don't want Frank Miller anywhere near The Spirit. Lately he's just been going through the motions - I hate ALL-STAR Batman and surprisingly, I found out that I wasn't alone.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Good, but not as funny as the others. (And, when you watch Spidey 3, you can pretty well argue that the person who kills Uncle Ben is the same guy who was hunted down in the first movie!) I hope this guy keeps 'em comin'.
Vox clamantis in deserto
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Bana Praises Norton Casting in New Hulk Film
Actor Eric Bana has praised movie bosses for replacing him with Edward Norton in upcoming sequel The Incredible Hulk. Bana, who played Bruce Banner in filmmaker Ang Lee's original 2003 movie Hulk, is pleased he wasn't offered the role as he may not have subsequently landed critically acclaimed parts in movies such as Munich. He tells Australia's Herald Sun newspaper, "If it came up in the right amount of time I might have (done it) but, you know, in an ideal world it has not been a bad thing for me. I think it's even better that they've got a new guy and better again that they've got someone of the caliber of Edward Norton. You know, I can't wait to see it. And I suppose if they had come back in the right amount of time I wouldn't have been doing films like Munich." But Bana insists he never considered making more than one Hulk movie when he signed up to appear in the original film. He adds, "I never went into the first one thinking I was going to do three films. I didn't think the word franchise, or the word sequel. To me it always appeared as a one-off opportunity." Shooting on The Incredible Hulk is scheduled to begin this summer in Toronto, Canada.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
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First Peek at Flash Gordon
Source: Entertainment Weekly May 23, 2007
Entertainment Weekly has posted the first photos of Eric Johnson as Flash Gordon along with an interview with the actor about the upcoming SCI FI Channel action-adventure series. The modern day retelling of the classic comic strip franchise will premiere August 10th.
Actor Eric Bana has praised movie bosses for replacing him with Edward Norton in upcoming sequel The Incredible Hulk. Bana, who played Bruce Banner in filmmaker Ang Lee's original 2003 movie Hulk, is pleased he wasn't offered the role as he may not have subsequently landed critically acclaimed parts in movies such as Munich. He tells Australia's Herald Sun newspaper, "If it came up in the right amount of time I might have (done it) but, you know, in an ideal world it has not been a bad thing for me. I think it's even better that they've got a new guy and better again that they've got someone of the caliber of Edward Norton. You know, I can't wait to see it. And I suppose if they had come back in the right amount of time I wouldn't have been doing films like Munich." But Bana insists he never considered making more than one Hulk movie when he signed up to appear in the original film. He adds, "I never went into the first one thinking I was going to do three films. I didn't think the word franchise, or the word sequel. To me it always appeared as a one-off opportunity." Shooting on The Incredible Hulk is scheduled to begin this summer in Toronto, Canada.
I'm not an Edward Norton fan, but he is actually a much better fit for the part than Bana. Norton's build is slighter and comes off more as the 'scientist' type IMO.
First Peek at Flash Gordon
Source: Entertainment Weekly May 23, 2007
Entertainment Weekly has posted the first photos of Eric Johnson as Flash Gordon along with an interview with the actor about the upcoming SCI FI Channel action-adventure series. The modern day retelling of the classic comic strip franchise will premiere August 10th.
Good luck to them--I mean that sincerely.The actors playing Flash and Dale look pretty good-I think that Alex Raymond might've been pleased with their appearances.It's obvious that Smallville is the series' true template with a bit of StarGate, rather than the FG comic strip("We get to go back and forth.").How cool is that.
The three serials adapted the strip fairly faithfully, but IMO there's little chance that would work today--especially since so much of what makes the original strip so memorable is Raymond's art--not the storylines.
Still, who knew that Ming the Merciless really isn't all that bad?Maybe the new Ming's a soulful sort who's just misunderstood,a man who likes Earthlings and doesn't want to rule Mongo-even though it's the family business,and it's Ming's FATE(as his Evil Emperor father will probably keep reminding his rebellious son).
EW didn't include a picture of the actor who'll be playing Ming, but it wouldn't be at all surprising-to me,anyway-if he turns out to be a dashingly handsome fellow who becomes a rival for Dale's affections.The actor might even shave his head for the role.Sounds like Flash'll be pretty occupied with both Dale and that "sexy bountyhunter"(who'll probably be revealed to actually be Ming's younger sister Princess Aura in disguise--and secretly in the forefront of the war against Mongo's evil emperor).
Or not.Just a few predictions.
Jane Pulls Out of The Punisher 2
Source: Ain't It Cool News May 15, 2007
Ain't It Cool News received a note from Thomas Jane which says that the actor has pulled out of Lionsgate's The Punisher 2. Here's a bit from the letter:
"What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch".
I had a sneaking suspicion that this would happen...I just did.
There's a rumor that John Dahl is being sought to direct Punisher 2--and who knows?He might be able to coax Jane back.If that doesn't occur, then maybe Jane'll be considered to play The Spirit...
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Interesting article from FORTUNE.com
Calling all superheroes
The Spider-Man movies have made a mint - but not for Spidey's publisher. Fortune's Devin Leonard looks at whether a new studio chief has the superpowers he'll need.
By Devin Leonard, Fortune senior writer
May 23 2007: 1:37 PM EDT
(Fortune Magazine) -- Spider-Man, as any comic book fan knows, isn't the most powerful superhero. He can't push planets around like DC Comics' Superman (owned by Time Warner (Charts, Fortune 500), parent of Fortune and CNNMoney.com). He's just an insecure teenager who, after his encounter with a radioactive spider, can climb walls and swing around on a web. But Marvel's wisecracking web-slinger is Hollywood's most bankable superhero. Sony's "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2" have made $3 billion from ticket sales, DVDs, and TV revenue globally. And "Spider-Man 3" had a record $151.1 million U.S. opening weekend.
You'd think David Maisel, recently named chairman of Marvel Studios, the publisher's Hollywood division, would be eager to talk about Spider-Man's success, but he's not. Why? Marvel (Charts) won't disclose its profits from the first two Spider-Man films, but according to a Lehman Brothers analysis, Marvel's combined take was only $62 million.
Box-office champs Spider-Man and Wolverine of the X-men (front) hold a casting call of would-be successors. From left, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Dr. Strange, and the Black Panther.
Spider-Man isn't the only Marvel star to make lots of money for somebody else. Fox's "Fantastic Four," released in 2005, has grossed $624 million. Marvel only made $13 million. (A sequel, "Rise of the Silver Surfer," opens on June 15.) The three X-Men movies, also produced by News Corp.'s (Charts, Fortune 500) Fox, grossed a combined $2 billion. But Marvel's total share was $26 million.
Since launching its characters in the early 1960s, Marvel has been through lots of corporate ups and downs, including bankruptcy in 1996. Different owners and executives made a series of ill-timed or just plain bad deals to bring the company's A-list superheroes to the screen. Now it's up to Maisel, 44, a Harvard MBA who started his career at Boston Consulting Group, to make Marvel's second string as lucrative for his company as the first team has been for Sony (Charts) and Fox.
To do that Marvel has begun making its own movies. Merrill Lynch put together a group of banks and hedge funds willing to provide the company with a $525 million revolving credit facility. Marvel plans ten films, starting with "Iron Man," now in production and starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the millionaire industrialist turned armored superhero, and Gwyneth Paltrow as his secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts. A follow-up to Universal's ill-fated "Hulk," starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, is also planned for next year.
Marvel, which expects to spend between $100 million and $165 million each to produce the films, is taking a big gamble here. In fact, it is betting its characters. It has a deal with insurer Ambac (Charts) to cover the interest payments to its senior creditors should the movies bomb. If they do, Ambac gets the movie rights to Iron Man and his mighty brethren.
Can Marvel prevail with a slate of characters - Thor, the recently deceased (but sure to be resurrected) Captain America, Ant-Man - that, beloved as they are to longtime comics fans, are mostly unknown to today's kids? And can a comic book publisher and licenser turn itself into a profitable Hollywood studio? Wall Street thinks yes. As of early May, Marvel's shares were trading at $29, up from $20 a year earlier. That's partially because of the new strategy but also because Spider-Man's third screen appearance should enable Marvel to move plenty of Spidey merchandise.
The story of Marvel's misadventures in Hollywood - and its hopes to finally get it right - is a tale of three executives. The first two are practically superheroes themselves in the eyes of Marvel fans: Stan Lee, 84, the company's legendary former editor-in-chief, and Avi Arad, 59, former chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, who used his passion for superheroes and his gifts as a salesman to stir up enthusiasm for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four in Hollywood and on Wall Street.
Then there's Maisel, who joined the company in 2004 and recently elbowed Arad aside - much as Arad did Lee more than a decade ago. He may seem a pretty pale character compared with his predecessors. But his bosses - and investors - hope he will turn out to be an archetypal Marvel figure, not unlike Spider-Man: the dweeb who develops awesome abilities and then beats all the odds to do good. Or in Maisel's case, make a lot of money.
Creating a Hollywood franchise
It's hard to talk about Thor with a straight face. Introduced in 1962, he is a buff, golden-locked incarnation of the Norse thunder god. He wields an enchanted hammer and talks in a Shakespeare-meets-the-Marx-Brothers dialect: "Let foes beware!! We strike for Earth - and the realm eternal!"
The challenge for Marvel Studios is to take what Stan Lee and the brilliant artist Jack Kirby were able to make work in comic books 45 years ago and turn it into a 21st-century Hollywood franchise. That's what screenwriter Mark Protosevich, whose credits include "The Cell" and "I Am Legend," is struggling with. On a February morning he's on speakerphone in Marvel's Hollywood office giving several executives an update. "We're not talking about a New Agey interpretation of gods here," he says. "We are talking about vengeful gods, interfering gods." In walks Maisel, carrying a replica of Thor's hammer. "Just to inspire you guys," he says. He looks happy to put it down. The thing is surprisingly heavy, but what would you expect? In the comic, no one but Thor can lift the magic mallet.
The new studio head doesn't come off like the kind of guy who would know this. Maisel - whose resume also includes stints at Walt Disney Co. and the Endeavor Talent Agency - has none of the playfulness you'd expect from someone whose job is to make movies about guys in tights. Instead he talks endlessly about Marvel's business plans. Think of him as Captain Finance.
He says the Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500) deal, which he negotiated, will enable the company to do three things. First, Marvel will be able to keep all the profits from its superhero movies. Second, Marvel will be able to determine their release dates, which will make it easier to sell action figures and other merchandise. Finally, Marvel can use the buzz generated by the pending movies to do more licensing deals.
"All those various things wouldn't have been possible if we couldn't tell people, Yes, we're making films and we control our destiny," Maisel says. "It's not like we have to wait for somebody down the street to green-light something." Maisel shrugs off talk that Marvel is relying too heavily on secondary characters. He says audiences will turn out for Iron Man et al., because Marvel is a powerful brand like Disney or Pixar - a brand, he adds, with a universe of more than 5,000 of its own characters to draw on.
The man who brought the most important of them to life, Stan Lee, holds the title of chairman emeritus. He has little to do with Marvel's movies these days. "I'm not really consulted," he says. "I'm usually called when they have a cameo they want me to do, but that's about it." His relationship with the company is complicated. In 2002 he sued Marvel for millions in back royalty payments and later settled for an undisclosed amount.
The Marvel story really began in 1961 when Lee and Kirby conjured up the Fantastic Four, a team with personalities and problems to go with their powers. It was such a hit that Lee tried similar things with Spider-Man, whom he co-created with artist Steve Ditko in 1962. Spider-Man was even more of a phenomenon.
But while Lee, a gifted promoter - and self-promoter - reinvented the superhero genre, he wasn't much of a businessman and never had much luck getting his neurotic heroes out to Hollywood where the real money was. In 1968, publisher Martin Goodman (Lee's uncle) sold the company to Perfect Film & Chemical Corp., which changed its name to Cadence Industries. In the late '70s, Cadence sent Lee to Los Angeles. The major studios weren't interested in costumed heroes who weren't Superman. This was also long before computer graphics lowered the cost of making a Spider-Man movie with special effects that weren't laughable.
In the end, Cadence practically gave away the film rights to many of its characters to second-tier studios like Cannon Films, whose low-budget movies "The Punisher" (1989) and "Captain America" (1990) were commercial failures. There was little improvement when financier Ronald Perelman took control of Marvel in 1989, planning to use it as the cornerstone of his own media empire. Comic quality plummeted, fans rebelled, and Marvel filed for Chapter 11 in 1996.
For people like me," says Avi Arad, "comic books are the ultimate fables." The former Marvel Studios chairman bears more than a passing resemblance to the actor Rip Torn. He always wears black, which makes the Marvel superheroes that adorn his clothes stand out even more.
Six degrees of Spider-Man: How Marvel's world works
Arad, who grew up in Israel reading comics in Hebrew, says the secret to making successful superhero movies lies in unlocking the "metaphor for life" within each of them. Spider-Man, for instance, is a coming-of-age story. Peter Parker learns to use his powers responsibly only after failing to prevent the murder of his Uncle Ben. "Peter is just like any other teenager," sighs Arad, who has three children himself. "You give a kid a car. He drinks and drives. Something terrible happens that defines the rest of his life."
A pop-culture savant, Arad was once a successful toy designer, with creations like the Pretty Ballerina doll and the Zap-it Disappearing Ink Gun. In 1989 he teamed up with fellow Israeli immigrant Isaac Perlmutter, whose Toy Biz company had a deal with Perelman to make Marvel toys. Arad persuaded Perelman to send him to Los Angeles to assist Lee. It wasn't long before Arad had supplanted the former editor-in-chief as Marvel's Hollywood ambassador. "Avi insinuated himself into the job," says Lee, with a surprising lack of bitterness.
Toy Biz bought the company in 1998. The same year, Arad's work in Hollywood began to pay off when New Line released "Blade," starring Wesley Snipes as a vampire slayer. Blade sold $133 million of tickets worldwide. Marvel made only $25,000, but the deal spawned other deals.
In 1999, Arad and Perlmutter licensed Spider-Man to Sony. Marvel's box-office take wasn't much when "Spider-Man" opened in 2002, but the company sold so much merchandise that net sales rose from $181 million in 2001 to $299 million in 2002. Profits soared from $1 million to $80 million over the same period.
Soon after "Spider-Man 2" opened in 2004, though, the stock dropped more than a third. Wall Street thought Marvel was all Spider-Man. By this time Fox had "Fantastic Four" and a third X-Men movie in the pipeline. But those characters didn't move merchandise like Spider-Man, who was not set to return to the screen until this year.
Spidey, an ogre and pirates: Who wins?
Instead of depending on other studios, Arad felt Marvel should produce its own movies. But how to finance them? The answer came from David Maisel, whom Arad had met in 2004 and introduced to Perlmutter. Maisel's idea was to fund movies with borrowed money backed by superhero movie rights. Perlmutter liked the idea and hired Maisel as COO of Marvel Studios.
Arad soon regretted that. He had played a key role in setting up the new studio, personally calling Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, to arrange distribution. He helped sell the idea to Wall Street. Michael Blum, head of global structured finance for Merrill Lynch, who worked on the Marvel deal, says, "Nobody can pitch those characters like Avi can." But Arad feared Maisel wanted to produce too many movies too fast. He also worried that Marvel was putting too many weak characters into the lineup. Arad and Maisel were soon fighting. Maisel, though, had won the backing of Perlmutter. "Ike was a supporter - not just of the deal, but of my role," says Maisel.
In May 2006, Arad quit and cashed out almost all of his stock for $59 million. Marvel's stock is up about 30% since then. Arad says he has no regrets. He remains one of the producers of "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk." But he is also working on his own projects, like a movie adaptation of the Bratz dolls.
Maisel took over as chairman of Marvel Studios this March. He was behind the company's recent agreement to co-produce a Spider-Man musical on Broadway with songs by U2's Bono and the Edge. He has been suggesting changes on the "Iron Man" script, including combining two villains into one to save money.
But the fallout from Arad's departure still hovers around the company. In February, Sony's "Ghost Rider," starring Nicolas Cage, was a surprise hit, grossing $224 million in worldwide ticket sales. (According to Lehman Brothers, Marvel's cut is only about $9 million.) It was a pet project of Harley-Davidson fan Arad. Arad recalls bitterly that Marvel tried to distance itself from the movie when it got bad pre-release buzz: "Nobody at my company, my ex-company, wanted to talk about this movie. It was a ******* child."
Maisel denies that and says he knew all along "Ghost Rider" would be a hit. The movie's success - despite a B-list hero and bad reviews - seems to bear out Maisel's belief in Marvel's strength as a brand. However, Marvel board member Sid Ganis says, "The board didn't expect much from 'Ghost Rider.'" Marvel executives can be a lot like their heroes - fighting one another as often as they fight the bad guys.
Recently I tracked Maisel down by phone in Dubai, where he was closing a deal for Marvel characters to be used in a theme park. As usual he wanted to talk business. But I couldn't resist asking, "By the way, do you happen to know the inscription on Thor's hammer?"
It turned out he'd just been doing a little research, reading a Thor graphic novel. He couldn't recite the inscription verbatim (For the record, it's "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of...THOR!"), but with the verve of a true comics geek, he got the gist of it right.
Maybe Maisel is the right guy for this job after all.
There's a rumor that John Dahl is being sought to direct Punisher 2--and who knows?He might be able to coax Jane back.If that doesn't occur, then maybe Jane'll be considered to play The Spirit...
John Dahl would be perfect. And if he gets the gig I hope Thomas Jane does return. If not, then David Boreanaz could do the job.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
There's a rumor that John Dahl is being sought to direct Punisher 2--and who knows?He might be able to coax Jane back.If that doesn't occur, then maybe Jane'll be considered to play The Spirit...
John Dahl would be perfect. And if he gets the gig I hope Thomas Jane does return. If not, then David Boreanaz could do the job.
Dahl is indeed a great director so I hope that he can woo Jane back if all goes well. It would be hard for me to see anyone else in the role at this point.
I'm just ready for another Punisher film. B-)
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
IMO, this may be over-doing it abit. Don't know why I feel that way but I do:
Sin City Games are Coming
Source: Red Mile Entertainment May 24, 2007
Red Mile Entertainment, Inc. today announced it has entered into a multi-year, worldwide license agreement to develop and to publish video games based on the "Sin City" series of graphic novels by writer/artist and film director Frank Miller. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The winner of multiple awards in its original comic-book and graphic-novel forms, the "Sin City" property achieved even greater public awareness with the 2005 release of the successful Frank Miller's Sin City live-action theatrical feature film.
"'Sin City' enjoys a broad and devoted following. Its crime noir settings, richly detailed characters, hyper-real action sequences, and engaging stories provide an outstanding groundwork for video games," said Chester Aldridge, CEO of Red Mile Entertainment. "Red Mile is enthusiastic about working with Frank Miller to create a franchise that is worthy of this great property."
"Taking 'Sin City' into the world of video games is very exciting - games offer a whole new way to bring audiences into 'Sin City,'" said Frank Miller. "The Red Mile team has impressed me with its dedication to creating 'Sin City' video games that will remain true to 'Sin City' as I've always seen it."
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
More on Frank Miller- he was interviewed at Cannes about his upcoming directorial project on THE SPIRIT.
Click on the link and scroll down to activate it.
Frank Miller on The Spirit
Source: The Hollywood Reporter May 24, 2007
The Hollywood Reporter has posted a new video interview with Frank Miller talking about his movie adaptation of The Spirit. You can watch the interview here!
Looks like the Isis TV series from the 1970's is being released on DVD. The shows themselves were mostly little morality plays and generally pretty forgettable. But the sight of Joanna Cameron in that skimpy little white outfit brings back many memories of puberty. :x :x :x
They really should have done an Isis / Wonder Woman crossover.
Comments
I swear to you that I didn't know anything about this petition. But like you, I am staunchly behind it!!! {[]
I was looking at Mr. Deeds the other night and it just dawned on me.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
David Boreanaz Up for Sub-Mariner?
Source: Horrie May 14, 2007
While this should be taken with a fair amount of salt, scooper 'Horrie' writes:
Just got home from my acting class, and a classmate tells me she just did a guest turn on TVs "Bones". Don't know that there's any truth to this or not, but she's saying that David Boreanaz from the show may be up for - or has auditioned - for the "Sub Mariner" movie...he said he had... P.S though my friend called it the "Namor" movie. I assume its the same thing we're talking about.
The Universal Pictures project will be directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), who also rewrote the script.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
At least Namor has a bit of an attitude to him and even has some superpowers out of the water. Could be good and I think Mostow is a capable director who can deliver a good action flick. The wings on the ankles have to go though.
They really are scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with some of these characters though, especially when there are so many great heros who have been largely ignored. Why oh why isn't anyone championing a Green Lantern movie? Or a Dr. Fate film? Those two properties would make for some great entertainment I think.
It doesn't look like he'll be in his classic outfit...again. 8-)
http://www.marvel.com/doctorstrange
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
________________
jen07
He looks perfect!!!
Finding a lookalike for The Big Red Cheese won't be easy.I'd be great if the Shazam producers will at least give Molale a screen test and not just dismiss him out of hand.Hopefully the filmmakers involved will be able to resist taking this wonderful material and turning it into a Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller movie...
And I agree with Tony--Green Lantern and Dr.Fate should be on movie screens.The technology definitely exists to present them in all their majesty.
According to today's(16/5/2007) Ain't it Cool News,Thomas Jane has quit Punisher 2.Also,Lionsgate will distribute Frank Miller's film about Will Eisner's character The Spirit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuSI9akJ9_s&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azGhHh9mV_Q&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_taep3ElI&mode=related&search=
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Yeah. Too much time I agree but the guy has an imagination.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohZB8ef0nVg&NR=1
These skits would do well on Comedy Central.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I will.The Dr.Strange preview on the Invincible Iron Man DVD looks pretty intriguing.This Strange is obviously not a direct interpretation of the Lee/Ditko version, but I'm okay with that.The filmmakers are trying to update the origins of Marvel's less well-known (to the general public) characters while still remaining true to them at the same time.That can't be easy,and hopefully these characters won't be completely rewritten.Maybe Strange's more familiar sorceror wardrobe will appear in a 2nd movie.
By the way,maybe I'm alone, but I actually enjoyed most of the live-action Dr.Strange TV Movie pilot that aired so many years ago on CBS.Not all of it was kosher,and it had a limited budget(and many adjustments/revisions were apparently dictated by nervous CBS bigwigs)but the character's general spirit was retained.
And I also liked the Steven DeSousa The Spirit TV Movie pilot--this from someone who is a big Spirit fan and frankly,didn't expect much.Sam Jones(not one of my favorite actors) really resembled Denny Colt/The Spirit, and gave a surprisingly good performance.And he had a fine supporting cast--some of whom looked very much like Eisner characters.Yes,portions of it were played for laughs, but in my opinion that's also true to what Eisner did in his strip.This thing wasn't perfect,but I don't think it's the worst live-action adaptation of a comics character,either.:)
Source: Hollywood North Report May 17, 2007
Hollywood North Report has learned that Zack Snyder's (300) adaptation of Watchmen will open production offices in Vancouver in June with shooting to begin in August.
Watchmen is based on the graphic novel, written by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons. Warner Bros. will distribute the film.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Source: Ain't It Cool News May 15, 2007
Ain't It Cool News received a note from Thomas Jane which says that the actor has pulled out of Lionsgate's The Punisher 2. Here's a bit from the letter:
"What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch".
I had a sneaking suspicion that this would happen...I just did.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Source: The Hollywood Reporter May 18, 2007
Samuel L. Jackson is in talks to star as a mysterious supervillain in The Spirit, the graphic novel adaptation to be directed by Frank Miller for Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment.
The story centers on Denny Colt, an ambitious young cop murdered in the line of duty who under mysterious circumstances is reborn as the masked mystery man known as the Spirit.
Jackson would play the Spirit's nemesis, the Octopus, a meek lab assistant who reinvents himself as a psychotic nightmare that kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face. The Octopus' tentacles reach into every aspect of crime in fictitious Central City, a city he plans to wipe out.
Miller, one of the world's most renowned graphic artists, wrote the screenplay, which is based on the comic book series created by the late Will Eisner. The film will mark the first solo directing project for Miller, who co-helmed 2005's Sin City with Robert Rodriguez.
Batfilm's Michael Uslan is producing alongside Odd Lot's Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker.
I honestly don't want Frank Miller anywhere near The Spirit. Lately he's just been going through the motions - I hate ALL-STAR Batman and surprisingly, I found out that I wasn't alone.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnHHDzQ4Axw&NR=1
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Actor Eric Bana has praised movie bosses for replacing him with Edward Norton in upcoming sequel The Incredible Hulk. Bana, who played Bruce Banner in filmmaker Ang Lee's original 2003 movie Hulk, is pleased he wasn't offered the role as he may not have subsequently landed critically acclaimed parts in movies such as Munich. He tells Australia's Herald Sun newspaper, "If it came up in the right amount of time I might have (done it) but, you know, in an ideal world it has not been a bad thing for me. I think it's even better that they've got a new guy and better again that they've got someone of the caliber of Edward Norton. You know, I can't wait to see it. And I suppose if they had come back in the right amount of time I wouldn't have been doing films like Munich." But Bana insists he never considered making more than one Hulk movie when he signed up to appear in the original film. He adds, "I never went into the first one thinking I was going to do three films. I didn't think the word franchise, or the word sequel. To me it always appeared as a one-off opportunity." Shooting on The Incredible Hulk is scheduled to begin this summer in Toronto, Canada.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Source: Entertainment Weekly May 23, 2007
Entertainment Weekly has posted the first photos of Eric Johnson as Flash Gordon along with an interview with the actor about the upcoming SCI FI Channel action-adventure series. The modern day retelling of the classic comic strip franchise will premiere August 10th.
Here's the extended link:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20036782_20037403_20039742,00.html
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I'm not an Edward Norton fan, but he is actually a much better fit for the part than Bana. Norton's build is slighter and comes off more as the 'scientist' type IMO.
Good luck to them--I mean that sincerely.The actors playing Flash and Dale look pretty good-I think that Alex Raymond might've been pleased with their appearances.It's obvious that Smallville is the series' true template with a bit of StarGate, rather than the FG comic strip("We get to go back and forth.").How cool is that.
The three serials adapted the strip fairly faithfully, but IMO there's little chance that would work today--especially since so much of what makes the original strip so memorable is Raymond's art--not the storylines.
Still, who knew that Ming the Merciless really isn't all that bad?Maybe the new Ming's a soulful sort who's just misunderstood,a man who likes Earthlings and doesn't want to rule Mongo-even though it's the family business,and it's Ming's FATE(as his Evil Emperor father will probably keep reminding his rebellious son).
EW didn't include a picture of the actor who'll be playing Ming, but it wouldn't be at all surprising-to me,anyway-if he turns out to be a dashingly handsome fellow who becomes a rival for Dale's affections.The actor might even shave his head for the role.Sounds like Flash'll be pretty occupied with both Dale and that "sexy bountyhunter"(who'll probably be revealed to actually be Ming's younger sister Princess Aura in disguise--and secretly in the forefront of the war against Mongo's evil emperor).
Or not.Just a few predictions.
This show could be fun--sort of.
There's a rumor that John Dahl is being sought to direct Punisher 2--and who knows?He might be able to coax Jane back.If that doesn't occur, then maybe Jane'll be considered to play The Spirit...
Calling all superheroes
The Spider-Man movies have made a mint - but not for Spidey's publisher. Fortune's Devin Leonard looks at whether a new studio chief has the superpowers he'll need.
By Devin Leonard, Fortune senior writer
May 23 2007: 1:37 PM EDT
(Fortune Magazine) -- Spider-Man, as any comic book fan knows, isn't the most powerful superhero. He can't push planets around like DC Comics' Superman (owned by Time Warner (Charts, Fortune 500), parent of Fortune and CNNMoney.com). He's just an insecure teenager who, after his encounter with a radioactive spider, can climb walls and swing around on a web. But Marvel's wisecracking web-slinger is Hollywood's most bankable superhero. Sony's "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2" have made $3 billion from ticket sales, DVDs, and TV revenue globally. And "Spider-Man 3" had a record $151.1 million U.S. opening weekend.
You'd think David Maisel, recently named chairman of Marvel Studios, the publisher's Hollywood division, would be eager to talk about Spider-Man's success, but he's not. Why? Marvel (Charts) won't disclose its profits from the first two Spider-Man films, but according to a Lehman Brothers analysis, Marvel's combined take was only $62 million.
Box-office champs Spider-Man and Wolverine of the X-men (front) hold a casting call of would-be successors. From left, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Dr. Strange, and the Black Panther.
Spider-Man isn't the only Marvel star to make lots of money for somebody else. Fox's "Fantastic Four," released in 2005, has grossed $624 million. Marvel only made $13 million. (A sequel, "Rise of the Silver Surfer," opens on June 15.) The three X-Men movies, also produced by News Corp.'s (Charts, Fortune 500) Fox, grossed a combined $2 billion. But Marvel's total share was $26 million.
Since launching its characters in the early 1960s, Marvel has been through lots of corporate ups and downs, including bankruptcy in 1996. Different owners and executives made a series of ill-timed or just plain bad deals to bring the company's A-list superheroes to the screen. Now it's up to Maisel, 44, a Harvard MBA who started his career at Boston Consulting Group, to make Marvel's second string as lucrative for his company as the first team has been for Sony (Charts) and Fox.
To do that Marvel has begun making its own movies. Merrill Lynch put together a group of banks and hedge funds willing to provide the company with a $525 million revolving credit facility. Marvel plans ten films, starting with "Iron Man," now in production and starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the millionaire industrialist turned armored superhero, and Gwyneth Paltrow as his secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts. A follow-up to Universal's ill-fated "Hulk," starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, is also planned for next year.
Marvel, which expects to spend between $100 million and $165 million each to produce the films, is taking a big gamble here. In fact, it is betting its characters. It has a deal with insurer Ambac (Charts) to cover the interest payments to its senior creditors should the movies bomb. If they do, Ambac gets the movie rights to Iron Man and his mighty brethren.
Can Marvel prevail with a slate of characters - Thor, the recently deceased (but sure to be resurrected) Captain America, Ant-Man - that, beloved as they are to longtime comics fans, are mostly unknown to today's kids? And can a comic book publisher and licenser turn itself into a profitable Hollywood studio? Wall Street thinks yes. As of early May, Marvel's shares were trading at $29, up from $20 a year earlier. That's partially because of the new strategy but also because Spider-Man's third screen appearance should enable Marvel to move plenty of Spidey merchandise.
The story of Marvel's misadventures in Hollywood - and its hopes to finally get it right - is a tale of three executives. The first two are practically superheroes themselves in the eyes of Marvel fans: Stan Lee, 84, the company's legendary former editor-in-chief, and Avi Arad, 59, former chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, who used his passion for superheroes and his gifts as a salesman to stir up enthusiasm for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four in Hollywood and on Wall Street.
Then there's Maisel, who joined the company in 2004 and recently elbowed Arad aside - much as Arad did Lee more than a decade ago. He may seem a pretty pale character compared with his predecessors. But his bosses - and investors - hope he will turn out to be an archetypal Marvel figure, not unlike Spider-Man: the dweeb who develops awesome abilities and then beats all the odds to do good. Or in Maisel's case, make a lot of money.
Creating a Hollywood franchise
It's hard to talk about Thor with a straight face. Introduced in 1962, he is a buff, golden-locked incarnation of the Norse thunder god. He wields an enchanted hammer and talks in a Shakespeare-meets-the-Marx-Brothers dialect: "Let foes beware!! We strike for Earth - and the realm eternal!"
The challenge for Marvel Studios is to take what Stan Lee and the brilliant artist Jack Kirby were able to make work in comic books 45 years ago and turn it into a 21st-century Hollywood franchise. That's what screenwriter Mark Protosevich, whose credits include "The Cell" and "I Am Legend," is struggling with. On a February morning he's on speakerphone in Marvel's Hollywood office giving several executives an update. "We're not talking about a New Agey interpretation of gods here," he says. "We are talking about vengeful gods, interfering gods." In walks Maisel, carrying a replica of Thor's hammer. "Just to inspire you guys," he says. He looks happy to put it down. The thing is surprisingly heavy, but what would you expect? In the comic, no one but Thor can lift the magic mallet.
The new studio head doesn't come off like the kind of guy who would know this. Maisel - whose resume also includes stints at Walt Disney Co. and the Endeavor Talent Agency - has none of the playfulness you'd expect from someone whose job is to make movies about guys in tights. Instead he talks endlessly about Marvel's business plans. Think of him as Captain Finance.
He says the Merrill Lynch (Charts, Fortune 500) deal, which he negotiated, will enable the company to do three things. First, Marvel will be able to keep all the profits from its superhero movies. Second, Marvel will be able to determine their release dates, which will make it easier to sell action figures and other merchandise. Finally, Marvel can use the buzz generated by the pending movies to do more licensing deals.
"All those various things wouldn't have been possible if we couldn't tell people, Yes, we're making films and we control our destiny," Maisel says. "It's not like we have to wait for somebody down the street to green-light something." Maisel shrugs off talk that Marvel is relying too heavily on secondary characters. He says audiences will turn out for Iron Man et al., because Marvel is a powerful brand like Disney or Pixar - a brand, he adds, with a universe of more than 5,000 of its own characters to draw on.
The man who brought the most important of them to life, Stan Lee, holds the title of chairman emeritus. He has little to do with Marvel's movies these days. "I'm not really consulted," he says. "I'm usually called when they have a cameo they want me to do, but that's about it." His relationship with the company is complicated. In 2002 he sued Marvel for millions in back royalty payments and later settled for an undisclosed amount.
The Marvel story really began in 1961 when Lee and Kirby conjured up the Fantastic Four, a team with personalities and problems to go with their powers. It was such a hit that Lee tried similar things with Spider-Man, whom he co-created with artist Steve Ditko in 1962. Spider-Man was even more of a phenomenon.
But while Lee, a gifted promoter - and self-promoter - reinvented the superhero genre, he wasn't much of a businessman and never had much luck getting his neurotic heroes out to Hollywood where the real money was. In 1968, publisher Martin Goodman (Lee's uncle) sold the company to Perfect Film & Chemical Corp., which changed its name to Cadence Industries. In the late '70s, Cadence sent Lee to Los Angeles. The major studios weren't interested in costumed heroes who weren't Superman. This was also long before computer graphics lowered the cost of making a Spider-Man movie with special effects that weren't laughable.
In the end, Cadence practically gave away the film rights to many of its characters to second-tier studios like Cannon Films, whose low-budget movies "The Punisher" (1989) and "Captain America" (1990) were commercial failures. There was little improvement when financier Ronald Perelman took control of Marvel in 1989, planning to use it as the cornerstone of his own media empire. Comic quality plummeted, fans rebelled, and Marvel filed for Chapter 11 in 1996.
For people like me," says Avi Arad, "comic books are the ultimate fables." The former Marvel Studios chairman bears more than a passing resemblance to the actor Rip Torn. He always wears black, which makes the Marvel superheroes that adorn his clothes stand out even more.
Six degrees of Spider-Man: How Marvel's world works
Arad, who grew up in Israel reading comics in Hebrew, says the secret to making successful superhero movies lies in unlocking the "metaphor for life" within each of them. Spider-Man, for instance, is a coming-of-age story. Peter Parker learns to use his powers responsibly only after failing to prevent the murder of his Uncle Ben. "Peter is just like any other teenager," sighs Arad, who has three children himself. "You give a kid a car. He drinks and drives. Something terrible happens that defines the rest of his life."
A pop-culture savant, Arad was once a successful toy designer, with creations like the Pretty Ballerina doll and the Zap-it Disappearing Ink Gun. In 1989 he teamed up with fellow Israeli immigrant Isaac Perlmutter, whose Toy Biz company had a deal with Perelman to make Marvel toys. Arad persuaded Perelman to send him to Los Angeles to assist Lee. It wasn't long before Arad had supplanted the former editor-in-chief as Marvel's Hollywood ambassador. "Avi insinuated himself into the job," says Lee, with a surprising lack of bitterness.
Toy Biz bought the company in 1998. The same year, Arad's work in Hollywood began to pay off when New Line released "Blade," starring Wesley Snipes as a vampire slayer. Blade sold $133 million of tickets worldwide. Marvel made only $25,000, but the deal spawned other deals.
In 1999, Arad and Perlmutter licensed Spider-Man to Sony. Marvel's box-office take wasn't much when "Spider-Man" opened in 2002, but the company sold so much merchandise that net sales rose from $181 million in 2001 to $299 million in 2002. Profits soared from $1 million to $80 million over the same period.
Soon after "Spider-Man 2" opened in 2004, though, the stock dropped more than a third. Wall Street thought Marvel was all Spider-Man. By this time Fox had "Fantastic Four" and a third X-Men movie in the pipeline. But those characters didn't move merchandise like Spider-Man, who was not set to return to the screen until this year.
Spidey, an ogre and pirates: Who wins?
Instead of depending on other studios, Arad felt Marvel should produce its own movies. But how to finance them? The answer came from David Maisel, whom Arad had met in 2004 and introduced to Perlmutter. Maisel's idea was to fund movies with borrowed money backed by superhero movie rights. Perlmutter liked the idea and hired Maisel as COO of Marvel Studios.
Arad soon regretted that. He had played a key role in setting up the new studio, personally calling Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, to arrange distribution. He helped sell the idea to Wall Street. Michael Blum, head of global structured finance for Merrill Lynch, who worked on the Marvel deal, says, "Nobody can pitch those characters like Avi can." But Arad feared Maisel wanted to produce too many movies too fast. He also worried that Marvel was putting too many weak characters into the lineup. Arad and Maisel were soon fighting. Maisel, though, had won the backing of Perlmutter. "Ike was a supporter - not just of the deal, but of my role," says Maisel.
In May 2006, Arad quit and cashed out almost all of his stock for $59 million. Marvel's stock is up about 30% since then. Arad says he has no regrets. He remains one of the producers of "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk." But he is also working on his own projects, like a movie adaptation of the Bratz dolls.
Maisel took over as chairman of Marvel Studios this March. He was behind the company's recent agreement to co-produce a Spider-Man musical on Broadway with songs by U2's Bono and the Edge. He has been suggesting changes on the "Iron Man" script, including combining two villains into one to save money.
But the fallout from Arad's departure still hovers around the company. In February, Sony's "Ghost Rider," starring Nicolas Cage, was a surprise hit, grossing $224 million in worldwide ticket sales. (According to Lehman Brothers, Marvel's cut is only about $9 million.) It was a pet project of Harley-Davidson fan Arad. Arad recalls bitterly that Marvel tried to distance itself from the movie when it got bad pre-release buzz: "Nobody at my company, my ex-company, wanted to talk about this movie. It was a ******* child."
Maisel denies that and says he knew all along "Ghost Rider" would be a hit. The movie's success - despite a B-list hero and bad reviews - seems to bear out Maisel's belief in Marvel's strength as a brand. However, Marvel board member Sid Ganis says, "The board didn't expect much from 'Ghost Rider.'" Marvel executives can be a lot like their heroes - fighting one another as often as they fight the bad guys.
Recently I tracked Maisel down by phone in Dubai, where he was closing a deal for Marvel characters to be used in a theme park. As usual he wanted to talk business. But I couldn't resist asking, "By the way, do you happen to know the inscription on Thor's hammer?"
It turned out he'd just been doing a little research, reading a Thor graphic novel. He couldn't recite the inscription verbatim (For the record, it's "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of...THOR!"), but with the verve of a true comics geek, he got the gist of it right.
Maybe Maisel is the right guy for this job after all.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100034246/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
John Dahl would be perfect. And if he gets the gig I hope Thomas Jane does return. If not, then David Boreanaz could do the job.
Dahl is indeed a great director so I hope that he can woo Jane back if all goes well. It would be hard for me to see anyone else in the role at this point.
I'm just ready for another Punisher film. B-)
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Sin City Games are Coming
Source: Red Mile Entertainment May 24, 2007
Red Mile Entertainment, Inc. today announced it has entered into a multi-year, worldwide license agreement to develop and to publish video games based on the "Sin City" series of graphic novels by writer/artist and film director Frank Miller. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The winner of multiple awards in its original comic-book and graphic-novel forms, the "Sin City" property achieved even greater public awareness with the 2005 release of the successful Frank Miller's Sin City live-action theatrical feature film.
"'Sin City' enjoys a broad and devoted following. Its crime noir settings, richly detailed characters, hyper-real action sequences, and engaging stories provide an outstanding groundwork for video games," said Chester Aldridge, CEO of Red Mile Entertainment. "Red Mile is enthusiastic about working with Frank Miller to create a franchise that is worthy of this great property."
"Taking 'Sin City' into the world of video games is very exciting - games offer a whole new way to bring audiences into 'Sin City,'" said Frank Miller. "The Red Mile team has impressed me with its dedication to creating 'Sin City' video games that will remain true to 'Sin City' as I've always seen it."
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Click on the link and scroll down to activate it.
Frank Miller on The Spirit
Source: The Hollywood Reporter May 24, 2007
The Hollywood Reporter has posted a new video interview with Frank Miller talking about his movie adaptation of The Spirit. You can watch the interview here!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/index.jsp
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
They really should have done an Isis / Wonder Woman crossover.
Here's a link for more info.
http://dvd.ign.com/articles/791/791969p1.html